Release notes instead of release posts

Goal: deprecate the release post in favor of release notes continuously deployed with GitLab.

Problem to solve

• The current way we do the release posts doesn't scale.
• It's a complex and heavy task to be rotated between so many groups and team members.
• As we're leaning towards deploying GitLab via CD, both documentation and the release notes should be part of the definition of done and equally continuously deployed.

Proposal

• Add a block to the docs tagged with the release number, collapsed by default, containing the release note about that feature.
• With a button, show the option to expand and collapse the release notes on that page.
• Using a RegEx (~RELEASE_12_1), output the release notes onto one single page, docs.gitlab.com/ce/releases/12_1/.

On the 22nd, I suggest that marketing publishes a regular blog post talking about the most important features released, linking the docs release page from there.

Further details

How would the markdown file look like:

~RELEASE_12_1
In GitLab 12.1, Pages users that add a new custom domain can
enable "Automatic certificate management using Let's
Encrypt". With this setting configured, GitLab automatically
procures certs from Let's Encrypt, provisions them to your
custom domain in GitLab keeps track of the expiration date
and automatically renews your certs.

Your selections can be set on a per-domain basis to
accommodate varying users and requirements.
~RELEASE_12_1

How the rendered output would look like:

<a class="btn btn-light" data-toggle="collapse" href="#collapseExample"
role="button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="collapseExample">
    Release notes
</a>
<div class="collapse" id="collapseExample">
  <div class="card card-body">
    In GitLab 12.1, Pages users that add a new custom domain can
    enable "Automatic certificate management using Let's
    Encrypt". With this setting configured, GitLab automatically
    procures certs from Let's Encrypt, provisions them to your
    custom domain in GitLab keeps track of the expiration date
    and automatically renews your certs.

    Your selections can be set on a per-domain basis to
    accommodate varying users and requirements.
  </div>
</div>

It would look like this (FE/UX to tell us where/how to show this info):

Then, all the release notes tagged with ~RELEASE_12_1 would be rendered on a single page: docs.gitlab.com/ce/releases/12_1/.

Who would write them: the devs, when shipping docs, or the PMs themselves. Then pass through the normal docs review process.

Who can address the issue

• Docs team to discuss it 1st
• Ask the PMs if this process looks good to them
• FE and BE engs to implement

Other links/references

gitlab-com/Product#397 (closed)